New year, new beginnings, new goals

I'm not one for New Years resolutions.  The excitement of the new year fades quickly and most of the population does not stick to the resolution(s) they made.  But I guess you could say this year is different for me.  I feel more resolve to change certain things in my life.

I've decided to do a scaled down version of 101 in 1001.  Let's face it, a lot of things can change in 2.75 years.  So many things on my old list be came unimportant or things that just weren't attainable any more with a new baby.  But, I did complete quite a bit of it, and as a list maker, it made me feel good to cross off a few things here and there.  So, I decided that this year I would make 27 goals for the year.  One for every two weeks of the year.  They don't have to be completed weekly, I just wanted to scale down the number of goals.  I originally started with 52, but I trouble coming up with that many.  I'll start with 27 and if I have more to add I'll add more.

I've decided to make some of the goals more long-term and therefore, more difficult to achieve.  But others will be quick and easy.  That way I can feel like I'm accomplishing *something*.  So, here they are.

1. Get on a budget, and try to stick with it for good!  I've lived out of my/our means for a while.  Living on credit and not really having a solid plan to pay it off.  Right now I'm using Mint.com for budgeting, and I recommend it, it's pretty cool! (0/12)
2. Pay off credit card 100% and keep the spending within a limit that I can pay off *every* month- I'd say $500/month.  I paid the card off a few days ago using a lower (than the CC) interest rate loan that we already had.  But now the challenge is to keep the spending down every month so that I can keep the balance at zero. (0/12)
3. Lose 6 pounds.  I've got 6 pounds of baby weight left to lose! (0/6)
4. Lose 4 pounds to equal a total of 10 (0/4)
5. Lose another 5 pounds to equal a total of 15 to put me into the middle of my BMI range. (0/5)
6. Save for  and buy new camera (monthly goal $150).  I've got my eye on this one!  ::love::
7. Take pictures of Sofia monthly.  This one should be easy as I'm already doing it, but I want to make sure I continue it! (0/12)
8. Go to the dentist every six months.  To some this might seem silly, but I, sadly, have not been to the dentist in years.  It just wasn't something that was instilled in me in my childhood. (0/2)
9. Finish Sofia's growth chart
10. Hang curtain rod and curtains in Sofia's room
11. Get Bandit's claws clipped or filed every 3 months (0/4)
12. Buy and start a compost bin.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a while.  I really want to be better about not being so wasteful.
13. Try to finish C25K program- 9 weeks.  I don't know if this will be feasible for me because of my knee, but I think it might help me to get back into running. (0/9)
14. Sell maternity clothes, put that money towards camera savings
15. Start savings account for Sofia
16. Sell Sofia's no longer used toys and "gear".  Put that money into her savings account.
17. Get cloth diaper inventory up to 24 diapers and/or GroVia inserts (16/24)
18. Fill Sofia's month-by-month picture frames, 13 total pictures in each (0/13 x2)
19. Have a small, successful, and cute first birthday party for Sofia.
20. Buy an external hard drive, keep all pictures and important files updated on said drive.
21. Get house "baby-proofed" (stove button caps, oven locks, doorknob locks, cabinet locks, toilet seat locks, etc)
22. Try to be consistent in using coupons (i.e stockpile non perishables)
23. Work on my photography skills (do any one or more of the following- complete my photography book, complete the 12 weeks to better photography, and/or take a photography class)
24. Buy a chest for my Grandmother's silverware, polish said silverware and store correctly
25. Buy and install fireplace doors or screen (kind of counts as baby proofing)
26. Buy and install a ceiling fan for Sofia's room
27. *Possibly* re do fire place hearth and surrounding area with new glass tile
    

I accomplished a lot this weekend

• Put away clean dishes
• loaded dirty dishes
• finished laundry
• picked up Sofia's nursery and put in new diaper pail (aka, trash can)
• went to grocery store
• picked up house
• took my car in for the noise it was making (...$400 later...)
• completed warranty on breast pump
• order a few cloth diapers, diaper sprayer, and diaper pail liners from nickisdiapers.com (great prices and selection!)
• took the dog on a walk (Friday and Saturday, will attempt to go this evening as well)
• successfully spent too much money at target, tjmaxx, and kohls :)
• bought the hubs his father's day gift
• put up picture collage (see post below) and even put in a few pictures.  Can't wait to finish it!

It's funny.  I find myself doing more when the hubs isn't around.  I still can't figure out why... I guess I would rather sit at home and be lazy with him than be out running errands.

'cause I can't resist a cute face

Here are some recent pictures of my puppy.

Hehe

Just wanted to share what I did this afternoon... Yes, that's my little Pomeranian, Bandit. And no, it's not in fast forward. He really is running that fast! :)

A few pictures I took

this evening. Kino was nice enough to give the puppy a bath and he was so cute and fuzzy when I got home that I decided to take a few photos. I heart clean puppies!

Wow, what a week!

My week probably started the worst it ever has. My four month old puppy decided that he wanted to play super dog and attempt to fly. He jumped off of the last 4 or 5 stairs at my apartment complex. Just to give you an idea, he did the equivalent of snapping your forearm in half. My FI and I rushed him to the vet and after spending almost $300 there they sent us to a specialist. Unfortunately he could not just be casted and sent home with some puppy pain killers. He actually had to have surgery and have plate put on his front left leg. 2 G's later, and a night at the vet's office, he's home. We are under strict instructions to not allow any jumping or running of any kind. It has been incredibly difficult to get a 4 month old puppy NOT to jump or run. Here's a picture of the poor thing with his cast. He walks like he has a peg leg, FI calls him Tiny Tim. :(

On top of all of this I was attempting to get approved for a house loan. I did get approved, but apparently with how high my car payment is I didn't get approved for as much as we had hoped. But... it's still a decent amount considering we are going off ONLY my salary. And let me remind you, I'm a TEACHER, so I don't make that much. I've already started to look for a home and am hoping to possibly be in house by August (#1 off of my 101 list!). It would be even better to be in a house shortly after my apartment lease is up in June. We'll see...

Lastly, today was our big UIL contest for band. My band didn't go, but the Honor band did and we made straight 0nes (the highest you can make). It might not be my band, but I teach those kids every day so I'm still proud of them and myself. It's nice because now we can somewhat relax. We have another contest coming up, but it's a taped contest so we'll have more than one shot at it. Which means a little less stress since it doesn't all come down to ONE day.

Today was a good day

It started off stressful and rushed, but turned into a pleasant day.

I agreed to help my brother out and take care of his dog this weekend. So when I woke up I took a shower and then headed out the door to RR to let the dog out. I got onto I35 and realized I left the key at my apartment. So I turned around and went to find the key... now I'm on my way again. Get there let the dog out, he doesn't pee. O'well that's his deal. Feed him and head back home. Dry my hair, rush out the door to stop by HEB to print out some pictures for the florist. Meet with the Donna Foster at Central Market for my wedding flowers. It was a good meeting. I was a little disappointed because there just isn't much available in November. Especially things that I want. Either way I think it will turn out beautiful!

Well anyway, I get home and my FI has done ALL of the cleaning that I had listed on the fridge before I left. This included dishes, clothes, clean the kitchen, sweep/mop, vacuum, dust, clean bathroom (toilet, tub, sweep/mop, and counter tops) I had actually made this list for myself, but he did it ALL without me even asking! It was great! I think it's so funny though because he needed so much praise for it. Constantly saying "does it look good" "did you see this" "did you see that"? But yet when I clean nothing is every really said. Oh well I can't complain too much, at least I didn't have to do it.

I also think that I might have picked up a new hobby. I started a silk flower arrangement over spring break, but never got to finish it due to crappy wire cutters. So I bought a new pair and finished it. Here's the finished product!
Just for kicks. Here's a more recent picture of my puppy. He's almost 5 months now and this is his first doggie sweater. AND, I didn't buy it, FI did!!

Who asks someone to buy their dog?

So, there is this elderly lady that lives in the apartment below me who is CONSTANTLY asking me if she could buy my dog from me. You might say, oh I'm sure she's just joking, but I really think that she's serious...

To give you some back ground info. She lives by herself with an extremely annoying and aggressive small breed dog (I wanna say it's a Maltese). Anyway, she's always peeking out her window whenever we take him out and she either brings out her dog or comes out to talk. The problem is that her dog scares the crap out of Bandit because all he does is bark while tugging at his collar so hard that he is gagging. It's rather sad. Not to mention that she leaves her blinds open all day and lets the dog bark at anything and everything that walks by. ALL.DAY.LONG

One day I took the dog out and she is coming back from wherever and starts talking to me. Complimenting Bandit and saying how cute he is. Then she goes on to say how she wants another dog, she was thinking a Chihuahua. The whole time, I'm just thinking GREAT! now you'll have two dogs that bark all day. A few days later I see her again as I'm taking the dog out and she actually told me, "I would buy him from you but I don't think I can have another dog" I just told her that he wasn't for sale and just kind of laughed it off. Then, about 2 days ago she mentioned it again. Saying "If I had enough money, I would just buy him from you! Does he bark?" I, yet again, told her that he wasn't for sale. I mean SERIOUSLY! I already told you he wasn't for sale once, did you not get the hint? Not to mention, who sells their dog? AND... who sells it to someone that cannot even control the current dog they own.

I'm actually a little offended by her even thinking that I would be O.K selling him to someone. I think if she brings it up again I am going to tell her that I wish she would stop asking me if she could buy him. He's part of the family now and unless she was going to offer me an insane amount of money, it ain't gonna happen.

One more thing checked off

Health/Fitness #11
This past Saturday my mom and I took Bandit and Cloud to the dog park for about 3 hours. It was good for him to get socialized with other dogs. He can be a little skidish and I don't want him to be one of that dogs that can't be around strangers or other dogs and I also don't want him to be a yappy dog.


Also, if you're interested, I've posted quite a few videos on YouTube of the puppy. My account is lp1044

Check those off the list!

Well, like I said, I haven't completely finished my 101 list. But I have started to mark things off. Surprisingly more than I thought I would have in the amount of time. So... on to the interesting stuff.

Career related #8
I attended a conference February 14-16 and I found (and bought) new technique books. I was in desperate need. Most of mine have writing all over them, which oddly enough I don't want to erase. Or, they don't have a cover and the pages are ripped. I felt it was time to replace them with new ones. Although I will never stop using my old books.

Financial #6
I don't really need to update each month on this. But, with still trying to recover from Christmas and just spending too much money in general, I'm surprised I actually put money towards the wedding this month. So I thought it was post worthy :)

Relationships #6
I sent a card with a handwritten note to my best friend and my brother. And come to find out, the day my best friend received it had been a bad day for her and it really lightened up her day. YAY! Go me! ;D

House and Home #2
On February 9 I brought our new puppy home! He's been so amazing. Of course there's the usual peeing and pooping on the carpet and the getting out of baby gate and crate. But he's a puppy and I'm just glad that he's smart enough to get out things. He's a black Pomeranian, three months old TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BANDIT!

House and Home #3
FI and I made homemade meatballs last Saturday. They didn't turn out as well as my mom's, but they were pretty damn good for a first time. They were also WAY easy. Although, you may say I cheated because I didn't make homemade pasta sauce, but I was just too lazy to go that far. Maybe that will be the 2nd meal we have?!

Misc. #2
I made a photo boom on blurb.com. It looks really awesome and FI was a little confused why I wanted a book just for myself. I told him that I was proud of the pictures and I paid too much for them to just sit on a CD.